Enclosures for inserting cables into housings are known from the prior art, which at the same time are used as strain relief or for kink protection. Typical representatives have a cap with an opening which is surrounded by a thread. The opening is normally suitable for holding a chuck, which can be drawn in by a cap nut which interacts with the thread. Complex plug-like apparatuses are known in which the connectors for the optical waveguide are firmly integrated in an outer housing.
In the case of outdoor applications, the connector connects an end of a cable to an outdoor apparatus. Hence, the need arises to seal the connector of outer influences and e.g. provide a waterproof connector sealing, which is at the same time still easily join- and disconnectable.
Environmental sealing structures for the protection of the connectors are known from the prior art, such as the publication US2015338584, published on 26 Nov. 2015 by Commscope Technologies LLC, which relates to a sealing enclosure for a connector on a terminated end of a cable including an inner housing and an outer housing. The inner housing is permanently affixed and sealed to a section of the cable adjacent to the connector. The outer housing slides over the inner housing and has attachment features at a forward end of the outer housing for attaching to an enclosure surrounding a port for the connector. In a further embodiment, the outer housing has a sealing member attached to an inner circumference thereof, wherein, when the outer housing is slid forward along the inner housing, the sealing member engages an outer surface of the inner housing to seal the outer housing to the inner housing.
EP2354825A1 was first published on 1 Aug. 2010 by Tyco Electronics Netherland BV. It is directed to an enclosure assembly for at least one connector. It comprises an enclosure having a connector volume configured to receive the connector and an opening with a strain relief element being adapted to receive a cable. The strain relief element is provided with a relief portion at one end to support the cable elastically. It further comprises a fastening portion, which in a mounted state is arranged at least partially within the opening. To create an enclosure which is easy to mount and assures a reliable anchorage of the cable within the enclosure, in a premounted state, the enclosure and the strain relief element are adapted to be slid relative to each other in a forward direction up to a forward position. In the forward position, the enclosure is automatically engaged in a friction lock with the fastening portion.
DE3604213, published on 13 Aug. 1987 by Hermann Holzmann, relates to a plastic screw union, which may serve as a sealing and strain relief of cables. The union consists of an intermediate connecting stub with a sealing body and cap. Clamping tongues are arranged coaxially on the hollow cylindrical intermediate connecting stub such that, during rotation of the cap nut of the sealing bodies, they press against the inserted cable. It is further proposed to fit latching tabs, which project on to the other part, to the cap nut or intermediate connecting stub, preferably distributed uniformly around the circumference. In that way preliminary fixing between the cap nut and the intermediate connecting stub is possible just by pushing on. Hence, the latching tabs form a type of elastic preliminary thread, from whose locking position further screwing on of the cap nut is directly possible. Furthermore, raised holding ribs are arranged on the inner surfaces of the clamping tongues, which form an annular assembly, which holding ribs fix the sealing body in a preliminary manner while the latter is being inserted.
US2012076463, published on 28 Mar. 2012 by Fujitsu Ltd, relates to an optical connector assembly with a waterproof housing. By fitting a waterproof cover provided on the outer side of the apparatus so as to surround the optical module with the waterproof cover provided an the optical module side, the connection portion between the optical module and the LC optical connector is completely covered and thus the connecting portion of the optical connector with the apparatus is made waterproof. Hereby, the engagement of an internal screw thread of the waterproof cover with the external screw thread of the rear housing of the connector effectively makes the connecting portion of the rear housing and the cover waterproof.
DE3512578, published on 16 Oct. 1986 by Franz Bunder GmbH and Co Elektrische Bauelemente KG, solely relates to a strain relief device for a cable, having a clamping piece with elastically sprung clamping tongues and a compression element. According to the invention, the clamping tongues are profiled such that, during the clamping process, they rest over the entire circumference on the cable which is to be clamped in. However, the strain relief device is not reported to provide sealing.
The currently used sealing enclosures of fiber-optic connectors often suffer from radial tolerances between the individual parts leading to leakage of the sealing enclosure if outer forces are applied and the structure bends up.